Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Chivalry Isn't Dead

May I hold the door for you?

A brief, and interesting, view of chivalry for fantasy writers and fun.

The original qualities of chivalry, even
the idealization of them, were based on notions that are still very much alive
today—the strong should defend the weak, keep their word, and be generous to
everyone. The idea was that a chivalric knight was essentially a
warrior-priest. Some of the orders even
took priestly vows of abstinence and poverty, like the Knights Hospitallar and
the Knights Templar.

Now, of course, that doesn't take into
account some of the darker parts of the chivalric code, which were very much a
part of the time and place they grew out of (Europe under Charlemagne), including—fighting
and killing “the infidel” (Muslims) wherever they existed, and upholding the
Roman Catholic Church at all times.
Defending the faith against all-comers was a real thing, and considered
very “honorable” at the time.

But the thing about “chivalry” is that
it never existed as a single institution at any one time—not so that we could
say it was “alive” or “dead” per se. Don
Quixote very premise based on this notion, and although the “knight” strives
for a better world based on chivalry, he only finds people being people.

Look, there's some Chivalry right over there!

So what we really have is a notion, an
ideal, that is chivalry, in the same way that Arthur was a king—it’s a
myth. The concept was good on paper, but
in practice, people with power tend to lord if over others—in the case of chivalry,
literally. The feudal system established
a class of nobility partially based on their ability to provide knights, who
were armed and armored off the hard work of serfs.

On the other hand, being friendly to
other people, giving to charity, and basically not being a jerk have never gone
out of fashion—though they sometimes feel like they're myths!

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About Me

R.A. McCandless has been a writer both professionally and creatively for nearly two decades. He was born under a wandering star that led to a degree in Communication and English with a focus on creative writing. He is the author of the urban fantasy novel “Tears of Heaven” (EPIC Award Finalist) and “Hell Become Her” (due 2015). His short stories have appeared in “Nine Heroes: Tales of Heroic Fantasy”, “In Shambles” and “Gears, Gadgets and Steam”. He continues to research and write historical and genre fiction, battle sprinklers, and play with his three boys.